In a charming corner of downtown Orange, Sarah Everett greets customers with a warm smile at O Sea restaurant, where she serves as General Manager. A May 2024 Chapman University graduate with a BA in Communication, a minor in Sociology, and Honors Program distinction, Sarah’s connection to Orange runs deeper than her years as a student.

It all began with a family road trip. As an eighth grader from Washington state, Sarah visited Orange during a California college tour. Something clicked. “I was drawn to the overall community, not just the school,” she recalled. The Orange International Street Fair showed her a kind of vibrancy she hadn’t seen back home.

“I felt like the school was so connected to the downtown,” she said. “If you were going to Chapman, you were also attending the Orange Circle in some regards.”

Sarah started her Chapman journey in fall 2020 via Zoom due to the pandemic. By her second semester, she had moved to California and began volunteering at the Orange Home Grown Farmers Market.

Her part-time job at O Sea during freshman year soon became more than just work — it was a way to build relationships with locals, professors, and fellow students. Those ties helped her feel rooted and ultimately led her to stay in Orange after graduation.

Now as GM, Sarah creates welcoming experiences for guests. She’s so well-known, some locals simply call her “Sarah from the O Sea.”

“I love the sense of community here,” she said. “But what really makes it special is connecting with people — that kind of connection is pretty special.”

(To learn more about Sarah’s journey, visit news.chapman.edu)